How far will the media go?
We live in a world where we are told fat is bad. Where even the thinnest women are still photo shopped.
We live in a world where we constantly worry if our husbands will leave us for someone skinnier or prettier, so we go to extreme measures in order to seem more appealing.
We live in a world where it takes a celebrity to come out about an eating disorder, which she has been struggling with for years, in order to gain media attention.
In order for other people to realize they are not alone.
In order for the world to know there is someone out there who is just like them who will listen.
How far will the media go?
Eating disorders are a major public health problem in our society today. Since World War 2, the mass media has increasingly held a higher standard towards women and their body image. There is a pressure put onto women to obtain the ideal image of “perfection”, which is nearly impossible to achieve.
The truth of the matter is women’s bodies’ change, as they get older. They fluctuate normally from water weight, which can easily be gained or lost in a matter of days or weeks.
This past week, Lady Gaga opened up about an eating disorder she has been struggling with for years, after she was ridiculed by The Sun, in an article headlined Porker Face, for showing a little “weight gain”.
Who are we trying to please, the media? I seriously want to see what those people writing these articles look like… I mean they are hiding behind a computer screen for a reason. Why do we let “them” tell us what is attractive or not? Why do we care?
I mean come on… is that really what our society should be focusing on right now? Who cares if Lady Gaga, who is normally on a strict diet, wants to go out, drink and * gasp * eat a cheeseburger once in a while…
This past week, Lady Gaga, tweeted a link to Caroline Rothstein’s video, where she performs her poem titled “fat”.
Rothstein is a New York City-based writer, performer, and eating disorder recovery advocate, who grew up in Wilmette, a suburb of Chicago. She expresses her 10-year struggle with eating disorders, stating how “she used to daydream about eating dinner without wanting to kill herself”, where she “played Russian Roulette with her esophagus”, eventually resulting in stomach ulcers, popped blood vessels and missing tooth enamel.
Gaga was ridiculed for not only this but also her weight gain. Honestly, though, this is what the media forces upon people. How far will the media go? When will they stop? Will they finally be happy once everyone is so thin they die?
It is estimated one thousand, plus, women die every year from anorexia and as many as one in ten college women suffer from a clinical or nearly clinical eating disorder, including 5.1% who suffer from bulimia nervosa.
Eating disorders is an incredibly delicate topic, which is why it needs to be publicized. Growing up in Chicago, it was rare to find someone who did not have an eating disorder. This is not to say that everyone was anorexic or had bulimia; but, going to a school where maybe 2 people in each class were over 150 pounds, there was a lot of pressure put on both genders to be thin.
Gaga makes people believe and realize they can be strong no matter who they are. Her page, A Body Revolution 2013, encourages fans to embrace and share their flaws. Someone posting a picture online of themselves, who would normally be perceived as “fat”, is receiving encouraging words from millions across the world telling them “don’t hide yourself in regret, just love yourself and you’re set”.
Is this her way of fighting back against the media for scrutinizing her? Or is she taking on the responsibility of being the voice for those millions who think they are trapped and alone in the battle?